Drier for sheet material



Jun 14, 1927.

A. 'J. VANCE DRIER FOR SHEET MATERIAL Filed Aug. 1, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet1 une 14, 1927.

A-J. VANCE DRIER FOR SHEET MATERIAL Filed Aug. 1, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2I! g lrmf IIII "Hill 6",

" mama June 14,1927.

I 1 UNIT -o STAT-ES PATENT OFFICE,

I'v'F'AIN'GE, OI PAIN'ESVILLE, OH IO, ASSIGNOR TO THE (JOE MANUFACTURING001mm, PAINESVILLE, OHIO, A CORPORATION 01' OHIO.

' Damn. son snas'r newsman.

Application filed August 1, 1m. Serial mi. 72am.

This invention relates to driers of veneers and the like wherein thematerial under treatment is conveyed through the drier by means of aseries of pairs of rollers;

' l More especially the invention relates to roll supported mechanismand conveyor rolls for such driers. I

In driers of this kind it has been com.- men-to support the conveyingrollsin even- 1y spaced pairs, the upper rolls bein free to rise andfall to accommodate the di erent thickness of material being treated.Furthermore, such driers are usually provided with an inner rollsupporting frame having 1;! spaced vertical side members which carryoppositely dis osed connecting bars wherein are formed a-rings for-:theroll journals. Heretofore these bars have been commonly of channel crosssection having U-shaped slots extending downwardly. from the upper 'partand surrounded by suitable flanges, the bar also having journal openingsin the lower part surrounded by annular flanges. Since the distancebetween the ll centers of the conveyor rolls of each pair .'scontrolled, at its minimum, b the roll diameters and the bottom flange othe channels is usually level with the bottom of the lower bearingflanges, these supporting bars have considerably more material than isnecessary for the purpose and consequently are'excessive in weight.

' Moreover, it is possible, by careless feeding of the veneer, to lapthe edge of one sheet over the edge of another sheet. Should this lapoccur near the middlemof the length of the rolls, the unusual thicknessbetween the rolls at this point may cause the lighter end of the toproll to rise sufliciently for its journal to'get out of the U-shaped.slot. In

addition to this the even spacing of the pairs of rolls tends to ciallywhen the material is of a composition such as is used in the manufactureof fiber arrang'ements and to improve the construc- 00 tion of suchconveyors by providing a form of roll supporting bar wherein thematerialcause corrugations in. some of the materials passed between them,espeyin be reduced to a practical minimum 1n weight while retaining allnecessary strength, the rolls will be so spaced as to.

constructed in accordance with this inven.-.

tion.

Figure 2 is a transverse section therethrough.

Figure 3 is a plan view on an enlarged scale of one of the roll bearingbars.

Figure 4 is a sideelevation of such a bar. Figure 5 is. a side-elevationof a modified form of bar, arranged for preventing corrugation. Y

Figure 6 is an end view thereof. Figure 7 is a section on the line 7-7of Figure' l.

Figure 8 is a detail showing a pair of improved rolls for use herewith.Figure 9 is an'enlarged detail showing the top roll retaining bar.

Figure 10 is a transverse section through a pair of felt covered'rolls.

Any suitable form of construction may be .used to support the rollbearing bars, the

improvement in the construction of which is one of the essentialfeatures in this inven- I tion. For instance, a conveyor frame may beconstructed havln vertlcal members 1Q disposed o posite eac other andconnected by longitu mal members 11 supporting theheater coils 12. Therolls are-shown as ar ranged in pairs, the lowerroll of each pair beingindicated at Iii/and the upper at 1A.. These rolls are provided withournal ends 15 and 16 respectivelfvi Each of the roll bearin bars isprefera y formed as a sin le unit 0 cast or pressed metal and is provied' with'a web 17 and a bottom flang 18, the

bottom flange .inclinin upwardly from the center toward both en s sothatthe web decreases in height from the center toward said' U-shapedjournal receiving slots 19. surrounded by reinforcing flanges 20 and thedepth of these slots is considerably greater than the width so that theupper journals 16 held therein may slide vertically thus enabling therolls of each pair to vary in distances between centers and'accommodatedifferent thicknesses of the material being treated. As previouslymentioned this material may be carelessly fed at times so that thematerial overlaps near themiddle and causes the upper journals 16, ifnot prevented, to lift entirely out of the slots 19. To avoid thiscertain of the flanges 20, pref erably the end flanges, are laterallyextended as at 21 andprovided with threaded openings 22 to receive thebolts 23 which secure a hold down or cover plate 24 to the top of theroll bearin bar thus covering in all of the upper bearing slots. Beloweach of the upper bearing slots the bar carries a tubular flange 25 andthe center flange is so positioned that the flange 18 merges into itsbottom portion. These flanges 25 have their centers in horizontalalinement and by this means the portions of the flange 18, be tween thebearing flanges 25, intersect these flanges at points which graduallybecome higher as the ends of the bar are approached; The upper and lowerflanges are preferably connected by short ribs 26. At each end the baris provided with bosses 27 having openings 28 for the reception of bolts29 by which the bearing bar is secured to the up-i rights 10.

In the form of the device as shown in Figure 4 it will be seen that thespacing of the pairs of rolls is uniform, that is to say the distanceslongitudinally of the bar be-- tween the adjacent hearing centers areuniform. In treating certain material such uniform spacin tends toproduce corrugation and it is ound that by having a set, or sets, of,roll hearing bars located at a place in the length of the drier whenthe material at; be dried is in $112; conditiiolil to be set, or t epermanent pe, an aving spacing of the rolls in said bearing barsirregular and unequai in distance from center to center as shownin Fig.5, such corrugating is prevented it will be obvious, of come,thatavhatever spaces are adopted the bearings ('in'one sideef theconveyor will be spaced in conformity with the"bearings on the othersideJ-It will be noted that the lower bearing openings are larger thantheupper, this being for the purpose ofpermittingrollerbcaringsafltobensed.

While the rolls shown in Figure 1 are uniform throughout the lengthcertain cases arise where it is advisable to use an upper roll such asis shown in Figure 8 wherein it will be seen that the center portion ofthe upper roll is reduced as at 31 to provide end flanges 32 which reston the lower roll 13, the engagement being at the ends of the body ofthe lower roll. Preferably these flanges 32 are of the same diameter asthe body of the roll 13. The effect willbe the same by having the bodyof the upper roll 31 of the same diameter asthe lower roll 13 and havingthe flanges 32 of greater diameter than either roll and dispense withthe gears, or star wheels, on these two rolls, driving the top roll byfriction through the flange. When this type of roll is used the materialpassing through does not lift the upper roll, the function of the latterthen being a guide to the material to be dried and to prevent the aircurrents from lifting the material off the lower rolls.

lVith the arrangement here shown and described material used in the rollsupporting bar is so distributed that the necessary strength 'isobtained without undue weight, the corrugating of the material beingtreated is eliminated, and the upper rolls are prevented from jumpingout of their bearings.

Another special type ofroll' is shown in Figure 10, where 13 is a metallower roll, of any pair, covered with felt 33, and 14 is itscorresponding top roll, covered with felt 34. Some materials which wouldbe damaged by actual contact with the metal surface of the rolls can bepassed between felt covered rolls without injury. Furthermore, the felthaving a great capacity for absorbing moisture, rapidly extracts themoisture from the material at the point of Contact, and as the rollsrevolve, the felt gives up its moisture to the currents of warm air.This action will insure more rapid "drying of materials that must bedried in comparatively low temperatures.

Changes in this specific form will be obvious to engineers, such changesbeing entirely within the scope ofthe present invention so it is notdesired to limit the invention to this precise form but rather it isdesired to include all such as properly come within the scope claimed.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, is:

1, A conveyor roll bearing bar havin a web'provided with horizontal uper e ge portions interrupted at interv by U- shaped journal slots eachhaving a reinforcing flange therearound, tubular bearing flanges carriedby the lower portion of said web, said web being deepest at its centralportion and gradually lessening in depth toward the ends, said tubularbearing flangesatthecenterofthebarhavhigtheir lower parts flush with thebottom of-the I web, and bottom flange portions at said lower edgeconnectin the tubular flanges. I

2. A roll bearing ar having transverse ferent from the 5 journalreceivin openings spaced longi- Odistances.

tudinally of the ar, the distances between centers of ad'acent openinisbeing unequal.

3. A roll aring bar aving transverse tance between a journal receivingopenings spaced longitudinally of the bar each center to centerdisdjacent openings being difvremaining; center to center In testimonywhereof I aflix my signature.

ARTHUR J. VANCE.

